Saber with or without "cómo"?

Question

I understand that the verb "saber" means "to know" and thought it also implied to know "how to do" something (or fact, information, etc.). Based on this I have alway used saber and immediately followed it with an infinitive form of a verb. (For example: yo sé nadar). However, recently I took the practice quiz on this site for saber and conocer to practice and saw saber followed by "cómo" in many of the sentences. (For example: yo sé cómo arreglar tu ordenador). Could you explain if there is one correct way of saying I know how to do ____________ (verb). Are there specific cases when "cómo" is or isn't used? ¡Muchísimas gracias!

Answer 1

To just say "how to do something" it's saber + infinitive.

I don't know the proper grammatical terms for the other cases but I think it may be the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs. Also, the whole "saber + infinitive" is a for knowing or not knowing how to do something in terms of the general concept.

Know how to swim, know how to cook, know how to read, etc..

But there are other examples of "knowing how" that doesn't involve knowledge of how to DO something.

"I don't know how you can drink so much!" "!No sé cómo puedes beber tanto!"

See the difference?

I mean, for me right now, with my understanding, I just follow my own rule of "can you drop saber(know) segment of the statement and the statement remains valid as a question?" If so, you can use cómo. If not, don't.

ejemplos

Invalid

• "I don't know how to swim" -> Drop the "know" segment

• "how to swim?" = Not a valid question. Don't use cómo in the original sentence.

Valid

• *I don't know how you can be so mean!

  drop the "know" segment

• "How can you be so mean?" = Valid question. Use cómo.

At least, that's how I see it. If I'm incorrect I hope some native speakers can clear it up for me.

This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you for such a thorough response and confirming what I thought about using "saber." - happyhrj, Sep 14, 2014

Answer 2

Hucklebeary has provided some good examples, these are exactly how we use the language. When people use cómo when it´s not needed it sounds like spanglish to me.

However, we do use cómo when the phrase has a clause that is in passive voice, ie: Yo sé cómo se prepara el pavo al estilo francés.

Thank you for the reassurance! In the examples in the "saber vs. conocer" page of the site it says: "Mi amigo sabe cómo entrenar a su perro" and "yo sé cómo arreglar tu ordenador." Does this sound odd to you? This is what confused me in the first place! - happyhrj, Sep 14, 2014

It doesn´t sound odd because there are people who talk this way, but "cómo" in both sentences is not necessary - 005faa61, Sep 14, 2014